Agricultural pesticides and veterinary substances in Uruguayan beeswax

Agricultural pesticides and veterinary substances in Uruguayan beeswax

Over the last decade, Uruguay has expanded and intensified its rainfed crop production. This process has affected beekeeping in several ways: for example, by reducing the space available. This has increased the density of apiaries, the risk of varroosis and acaricide use. Additionally, the dominance...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 177; pp. 77 - 83
Main Authors: Harriet, Jorge, Campá, Juan Pablo, Grajales, Mauricio, Lhéritier, Christophe, Gómez Pajuelo, Antonio, Mendoza-Spina, Yamandú, Carrasco-Letelier, Leonidas
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2017
Subjects:
Acaricides
Acaricides - analysis
Agriculture
Animals
Beekeeping
Bees
Beeswax
Fungicides, Industrial - analysis
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Geography
Herbicides - analysis
Hive health
Honey - analysis
Honey bee
Insecticides - analysis
Nitriles - analysis
Pesticides
Pesticides - analysis
Pyrethrins - analysis
Risk Assessment
Uruguay
Waxes - chemistry
Xenobiotics - analysis
Acaricides
99-00
Hive health
00-01
Pesticides
Beeswax
Honey bee
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Summary:Over the last decade, Uruguay has expanded and intensified its rainfed crop production. This process has affected beekeeping in several ways: for example, by reducing the space available. This has increased the density of apiaries, the risk of varroosis and acaricide use. Additionally, the dominance of no-tillage crops has increased the frequencies of application and of loads of pesticides in regions where such crops share the land with beekeeping and honey production. Therefore, the exposure of bees to xenobiotics (agricultural pesticides and veterinary products) has increased in line with pollution of hives and their products. To document pollution from hive exposure to pesticides, we surveyed the presence of 30 xenobiotics normally used in Uruguay, in recycled beeswax (RB) and in honey cappings (HC) from the main Uruguayan beekeeping regions. There was contamination of all the analyzed samples (RB and HC) with the herbicide atrazine at a range of 1–2 ng g−1. At least three or four additional xenobiotics were detected: insecticides (chlorpyrifos-ethyl and thiacloprid); fungicides (azoxystrobin and tebuconazole); and veterinary products (coumaphos, ethion, and tau-fluvalinate). The frequency of detection of chlorpyrifos-ethyl and coumaphos in RB samples was higher than in those of HC. Moreover, the concentrations of azoxystrobin, coumaphos, and tebuconazole in RB samples were higher than in HC samples. Therefore, we suggest the use of HC to produce recycled printed beeswax films for use in hives to minimize pollution transfer. [Display omitted] •Lipophilic xenobiotics was accumulated in recycled beeswax (RB).•Xenobiotic pollution presented a higher frequency and concentration in RB.•Some fungicides and neonicotinoids could have synergistic effects.•The use of honey cappings to make beeswax foundation will reduce the hive health risk.
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.02.131